Renato Marcial

An inferno in one of Manila's huge shanty towns has killed nine people, authorities said today, the third blaze to have struck the city's slums in as many weeks.

A huge fire chased hundreds of Philippine inmates out of their cells and razed a sprawling shantytown near a Manila prison Friday, leaving thousands of residents homeless, authorities said.

A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year's celebrations.

An inferno in one of Manila's huge shanty towns has killed nine people, authorities said today, the third blaze to have struck the city's slums in as many weeks.

A huge fire chased hundreds of Philippine inmates out of their cells and razed a sprawling shantytown near a Manila prison Friday, leaving thousands of residents homeless, authorities said.

A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year's celebrations.